Johnson is a Regents Professor of Trumpet at the University of North Texas. He is a member of the Dallas Opera Orchestra, Dallas Bach Society, Fort Worth Early Music, Orchestra of New Spain and the New Hampshire Music Festival. Johnson also has played with the symphonies of Dallas, Fort Worth, Shreveport and Kansas City. He has been a member of the Northern Brass Quintet, Texas Brass Ensemble and the Sundance Brass. He also has appeared as a soloist and clinician throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Africa.

Johnson has published more than 30 articles on brass performance, and he has published two books, “The Art of Trumpet Playing” (Gore Publishing) and “Brass Performance and Pedagogy” (Prentice-Hall). He has also published method books for modern trumpet and for natural (Baroque) trumpet. In addition, Johnson served as the music review editor for the “International Trumpet Journal.”